Once he had warmed up, Dazhuang grabbed the large hoe and strode down the steps to turn the soil.
Their posture was perfect, their attitude was positive, and they seemed to have inexhaustible energy.
Ye Wenxue rested her chin on her hand and watched quietly for a while, thinking to herself that the big villain was really easy to fool when he was young.
A simple compliment motivated him to work harder, and he didn't even have to pay her—it was such a good deal!
The sound of digging came from the ground. Ye Wenxue came back to her senses, picked up a small hoe and started turning the soil away from Dazhuang.
At the same time, he diverted his attention to the space and harvested a batch of crops in the space, quickly reaping a large amount.
Ye Wenxue looked at the dishes in the space, then at Dazhuang working hard outside the space, and secretly made a decision.
After turning the soil for half the night and half the morning, and then warming it with the fire in the charcoal kiln, it was ready to be planted the next day.
Ye Wenxue dismissed Dazhuang and Su Jiu, then squatted in the charcoal kiln, took out the seeds she had stored in her space, and planted scallions, chives, garlic sprouts, bok choy, cucumbers, and other vegetables.
The vegetable garden is too small; each type of vegetable can only be planted on a small portion of the plot.
After Ye Wenxue had almost finished planting, the two of them clung to the entrance of the hole: "Mother, it's time to take your medicine."
Ye Wenxue slapped her forehead: "I forgot to tidy up Su Jiu."
No wonder this guy took Dazhuang so fast today.
Shuangshuang, not understanding what she meant, reached out and pulled Ye Wenxue up and down, patting the dirt off her clothes and speaking softly:
"...There's hot water in the kitchen. Remember to take a bath after you take your medicine, Mom. Mr. Su said that soaking in a hot spring will help you recover faster, but we don't have that option, so a hot bath will be the only option."
Ye Wenxue was, after all, a widow, and Su Jiu, being a grown man, couldn't just tell her to go take a bath. So, in front of Dazhuang, Sanyuan, and Siwang, he asked Shuangshuang to relay the message.
Ye Wenxue nodded: "Okay, the work is almost done. Just add some firewood to the charcoal kiln. Go add it. Mom will take Yuanyuan for a bath."
Both of them happily agreed, added firewood, filled the kitchen with water, cooked pig feed, and fed the pigs.
Upon hearing Ye Wenxue and Shuangshuang's voices, Sanyuan and Siwang immediately scooped up hot water and carried it to the bathtub they had made when sprouting the bean sprouts.
Ye Wenxue went back to her room to get her clothes, then picked up Yuanyuan, who was crawling around on the kang (a heated brick bed), and took her into the private bathroom.
After opening a crack to let in some fresh air, Ye Wenxue took a bath with Yuanyuan in her arms.
In winter, Yuanyuan likes to soak in hot water, splashing around and making little noises.
Having not taken a bath for several days, Yuanyuan was especially excited today. She bounced up and down on Ye Wenxue's knees, and every now and then she would lean over and give Ye Wenxue a sweet and soft kiss.
After Ye Wenxue suppressed a laugh and cleaned Yuanyuan, she had just changed her clothes when there was a knock on the door.
"Mother, my elder brother and Mr. Su are back, and they brought Zhiwang with them."
Shuangshuang's voice suddenly rang out.
Ye Wenxue knew immediately that something extraordinary had happened, otherwise Dazhuang wouldn't have returned so early.
"Have them go sit in Su's old house for a while, I'll be right there."
Su's old room was the room where Dazhuang, Sanyuan, and Siwang originally slept.
They both responded and left.
Ye Wenxue quickly tidied herself up, changed Yuanyuan into new clothes, and put all the dirty clothes aside to wash later.
She carried Yuanyuan and quickly walked into the room. She immediately saw Zhiwang with a complicated expression, and her heart skipped a beat.
Ye Wenxue sat down next to Dazhuang and looked at Zhiwang: "What's wrong?"
Zhiwang frowned for a long time, then suddenly broke into a smile: "Boss Ye, the bean sprouts sold out in two days, and we made more than ten taels of silver!"
Ye Wenxue glared at him lightly, her mind racing. The bean sprouts she'd grown weighed less than two hundred jin, yet she'd earned a little over ten taels of silver, which meant…
It sells for nearly fifty coins per pound.
Ye Wenxue couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.
Although she had long anticipated that the price of bean sprouts wouldn't be too cheap, fifty coins was still somewhat beyond Ye Wenxue's expectations.
After all, cheap charcoal was only nine coins a pound at the time, and grain prices were much higher, but they hadn't skyrocketed to twenty coins a pound.
The price of bean sprouts far exceeds that of grain and charcoal—both essential items for winter.
Zhi Wang glanced at Ye Wenxue's expression, feeling quite satisfied. This was proof of his ability!
"I have studied it carefully. Those who can eat vegetables in winter are wealthy merchants and gentry."
Therefore, selling bean sprouts cannot be done like selling charcoal—it can't be done cheaply and slowly. You have to be ruthless and aggressive so that merchants and gentry will feel it's worthwhile and will be willing to pay a high price for them!
If Zhiwen hadn't persuaded him otherwise, Zhiwang would have wanted to raise the price even more when there were less than fifty jin left.
Zhiwang took out some silver and handed it to Ye Wenxue, his eyes shining brightly, clearly seeking praise.
Ye Wenxue smiled and praised him a few times, then slipped him a tael of silver as commission and a reward.
Zhiwang quickly refused.
As the two pushed and shoved each other, Su Jiu's eyes sharpened, and he wished he could snatch the silver and keep it for himself.
Dazhuang grabbed Zhiwang's hand, which was trying to push him away, and said with a smile, "Just accept it."
He shared the same idea as Ye Wenxue: Zhiwang was doing well selling bean sprouts, so this commission was well-deserved.
...I'm just a little reluctant to part with it, after all, we're not exactly rolling in money.
After considering it for a while, to reassure Boss Ye and Brother Dazhuang, Zhiwang finally accepted the money and began to talk about another important matter:
"The owner of a clothing shop in a small town at the foot of the mountain wants us to build a kang (heated brick bed) for his home."
The owner of the clothing shop and his wife were both afraid of the cold. A couple of days ago, when he was chatting with Zhiwen, he learned that the houses in the mountain village where people lived had kang beds, which made the rooms warm and cozy, and they slept soundly at night. So he started to have some ideas.
Ye Wenxue still remembered the shopkeeper of the clothing store. She also knew that when Zhixing first started selling charcoal, this shopkeeper had been a great help, replacing many old cotton clothes and bedding so that the brothers in the mountain village could transport charcoal back and forth in the snow in the dead of winter.
"Why don't you get someone to set up the kang (heated brick bed) for him? Aren't there plenty of brothers who know how to do that?"
Ye Wenxue took the hawthorn water from Dazhuang, fed Yuanyuan a small half bowl, and then drank it all herself.
Zhiwang chuckled a few times: "Boss Ye, we can't work for nothing. We're here to discuss the pricing of the kang (heated brick bed) with you."
Moreover, last time, the eldest brother gave Xing Ge two braziers and a fire basket, and he wanted to ask for a few more to give away..."
Ye Wenxue thought for a moment and said, "You should discuss this with Dazhuang."
This is a good opportunity for Dazhuang to get some exercise.
Zhiwang looked at Dazhuang.
Da Zhuang's eyes darted around: "I'll get back to you tomorrow."
Zhiwang nodded and left after taking the calligraphy copybook that Zhang Dazhuang had written for him.
Su Jiu then spoke up: "Your bean sprouts are too expensive. Only wealthy merchants and gentry can afford them."
Da Zhuang slowly turned his face away: "Bean sprouts are made from soybeans and mung beans, and a pound of beans costs more than ten coins. Besides, it's not easy for my mother to sprout beans, so it's not worth it to set the price too low."
Su Jiu hesitated, then thought that he only charged a few coins for treating the poor, but charged more for treating the rich, so it didn't seem to be any different from this.
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